The Roots of Konoha
by Lazy Ronin Ryumori
Summary: While practicing the clone jutsu Naruto meets a certain war hawk that gives him some advice and guidance that will guarantee his greatness. Soon joined by two others, they will be the roots that will ensure the greatness of Konohagakure No Sato, as well as the demise of any who cross them. Strong Naruto. Strong Team 7. NarutoXSakuraXHarem. Later SasukeXKarinX(maybe)Harem.


**Hello, FANFICTERS! It was so nice of you to click on the link to this story. You're here with me The Lazy Ronin! I'll be your surgeon! Your proctor! Your helicopter! Pumping out the slaughtermatic fics to keep you live! A system failure for the masses! Anti-matter for the master plan! Louder than God's revolver and twice as shine! {Sorry want to do that at least once in my lifetime. Did ya catch the reference?} **

**Some of you may know my work, but a lot of you probably don't, since I remove my stories far too often. Fans of my currents fics shouldn't worry since I have a lot already planned out for the stories I currently have out as well as for the ones I'm planning, so don't fear this one's removal… by me at least.**

**You already know the plot to this story, but just so we're clear: Naruto is the central character with other mains being Sasuke and Sakura everyone one else will be either support or love interests. **

**Main Warnings: No intentional bashing, Strong Team 7, Large harem possible for Naruto, small harem may happen for Sasuke. Character Death later on.**

000TROK000

The ANBU guard detail of Naruto Uzumaki could barely contain their cringes at the sight below them.

Little Naruto was trying his best to perform a kawarimi, but try as he may the boy just couldn't get the technique to work for him. At best it ended in nothing happening. At worst the chakra feedback would send him sorrowing back into a tree, nearly giving him a concussion.

If the Hokage didn't feel that it was imperative that they stay hidden from the boy then they would have long since gone down and helped him, but orders were absolute.

They just continued to watch the boy's shortcomings.

Just when the boy looked like his was about to give up they saw someone come within their sight. The person appeared to be a frail, old man, who walked with a cane. He had black, shaggy hair, and the upper right side of his face was completely bandaged. The elderly man had an x-shaped scar on his chine. He wore a white shirt, with a dark grey robe over the top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder.

The ANBU immediately recognized him as Danzō. They were weary of the situation, not knowing what the man wanted with the Kyūbi's Jinchūriki. Not once had Danzō ever brought up the Jinchūriki in the interactions he had with the Sandaime. This only seem to make Hiruzen Sarutobi more nervous of the man, he told those that guarded Naruto to be wary of the man when he was near Naruto. Ready to strike if necessary and ready to report back to him when the confrontation ended even if no form of hostility was involved.

They could only watch until Danzō acted, but they would be watching with hands of their blades.

"Hello Naruto-san." Danzō greeted once he was close enough to Naruto.

The blond eyed his suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"I'm just a lonely old man wanting to talk to the new generation." Danzō said as he slowly lowered to the ground and crossed his legs into a sitting position. "Humor me, would you?" Danzō asked.

"Ummm… fine, okay." Naruto said sitting crossed legged across from the man. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Tell me do you want to be a ninja?"

"Huh!? What kind of question is that!? Of course I do! I wouldn't be out here training otherwise."

"Why?"

"Huh? I'm training to be strong!"

"No, not that. Why do you want to be a ninja?"

"Because if I was a ninja I could become the Hokage! If I became the Hokage everyone would have to acknowledge me! Dattebayo!"

"That is the wrong way of thinking." Danzō said.

"What are you talking about, ji-san?"

"The person that become Hokage doesn't gain everyone acknowledgment. It's the person that already has everyone's acknowledgement that becomes Hokage."

"So everyone will have to notice me for me to become Hokage."

"Yes, so if you want to become Hokage only for acknowledgement then you might as well not become Hokage at all." Danzō said. The ANBU in the trees were livid, so that was the man's game: to crush the boy's dreams. Naruto seemed to just sit there for a while, but Danzō didn't get up to leave. He looked at Naruto as if waiting for some type of response.

"That's not my only reason-" Naruto said looking Danzō in the eye. "-Hokage-ji-san tells me that he is Hokage because he want to protect the people he loves. I want to do the same!"

"Who do you love though?" Danzō inquired. Naruto just set for a while again.

"I love the Hokage, and the people at Ichiraku Ramen, and the people that watch over me that are in the trees right now…" Naruto pointed to the ANBU making Danzō's eye as well as those of the ANBU widen marginally.

'He can sense them already. Despite the hair, he's a true Uzumaki,' the old war hawk thought.

"… And most important, and I guess this is more of a 'what' than a 'who', but I love Konohagakure!" Danzō's eyes widened at that. "This is my home and I love it! I don't want to be anywhere else! I don't care if no one likes me, because I love Konoha therefor I love all of them too! That includes you ji-san!"

Danzō looked at the boy with widened eyes… er… well with a widened eye. He never had anyone to tell him that they loved him. He had been an orphan with no family and since he could remember he had been solely focused on protecting Konoha. He always felt there was no time for love. That sentiment stuck with him until it was too late. "Thank you child. You do not know how much those words mean to me. I came here to test you. I didn't want just anyone to go around screaming about being Hokage. You proved me wrong. I can say that I can see a future Hokage in you."

"Really ji-san!"

"Yes really, but not if you continue the path you're walking."

"Huh? What's that mean?"

"Let me explain. Your remember me saying that people must acknowledge you as Hokage material for you to become one."

"Yeah."

"Well people don't like idiot jokesters as much as you might think. I've been watching you. You entered the academy this year. You skip class to go pull pranks. You badmouth others, like the Uchiha, because they succeed where you fall short. You yell at the top of your lungs whenever someone angers you. A Hokage must be smart. He must be able to read and not miss a detail of what he read. A single letter missed, skipped, or forgotten is the deference between peace and war. Pranking those that you want the respect of is foolish. It will only make those that hate you hate you more and those that were indifferent to you hate you. A man should not look what others are doing and become jealous. A true man will see someone succeed and only strive harder to do the same. Yelling does not solve anything. It only makes it harder for the person you're yelling at to understand. Speak with confident and with a mild bit of intensity and people will be able to hear you just find."

"So I'll have to stop pranking people?"

"Yes."

"And I can't challenge Sasuke-teme to a fight anymore."

"No and the Uchiha isn't a bastard. He's just a scared and alone child. He's actually really similar to you. Use your same determination to fight him to try and befriend him. I'm sure you'll succeed if you try. He will prove to be a powerful ally if you can get him on your side."

"Right! And I shouldn't yell anymore."

"Yes and please understand that I know none of that is easy since it a habit you're trying to kill, but I'm sure you will succeed."

"Okay!"

"Also the other reason you wouldn't be able to become the Hokage is because the academy is teaching you the wrong way."

"What do you mean?"

"They teach very little and what they do teach isn't worth it in the long run, but worst yet they don't take into account people like you."

"Like me?" The ANBU were ready to spring if Danzō so much as looked like he was going to say a word starting with 'K'.

"People with high reserves of chakra. If for someone so young your chakra is twice as large as the Hokage's."

"REALLY!?"

"Naruto-san, yelling?"

"Right! Sorry!"

"It's fine like I said you're breaking a habit here. Like I said you have a lot of chakra, but you have so much that you don't know what to do with it. You see a there chakra quantity and chakra control. Control is far more important that quantity, but the higher the quantity the less control you have. As of now you have a huge quantity, but no control."

"Oh no." Naruto said as if he just learned he was going to die in a couple months.

"There isn't a reason to worry. You have years before you get out to the world as a ninja, so let's work on building you some control as soon as possible."

"You can help me with that!?"

"Yes, I am the only man in this village that can fit on equal footing with the Hokage afterall."

"REALLY! Wait! Really!"

"Yes, so I'll give you these." Danzō reached into his robe and pulled out a book and a scroll. The book was huge, the size of a dictionary, but the scroll was also just as big. "This book is called 'The Ethics & Etiquette of Being a Shinobi' and this scroll is 'The All-In-One Guide to Chakra Control'. I want you to read both of these. Take whatever the book says to heart as it will not steer you wrong. It is a collaboration between the Shodaime and Nidaime after all. Although I enjoyed the Nidaime's section I believe you'll favor the Shodaime's section more as did Hiruzen when he first read it. Read a chapter a day, but you should really focus on the all in one guide since it will correct you chakra problem. Read how to complete an exercise and then do it. Master it before moving on to the next one. Understood?"

"Yeah, I understand Ji-san!" Naruto said accepting the book and scroll.

"Good. I'm entrusting you with these, so don't make me regret putting my faith in you." Danzō said. He groined as he pushed himself off the ground with the help of his cane. "Never grow old Naruto-san. Everything starts to hurt after a while!" Danzō said slowly walking away. "I'll be watching, even when you don't know it."

"I won't let you down, ji-san!" Naruto said opening the scroll first. 'Okay, lead balancing…"

000TROK000

Danzō walked into the office of the Hokage at a sedated pass. "What is it that you want of me, Sarutobi? Last time you actually wanted to talk to me it was to have my Roots Organization disbanded."

"My ANBU tell me that you talked to Naruto the other day."

"Yes I did. Why should it matter? Don't tell me that I can't even have talks to children."

"What is it that you have planned?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Danzō!"

"I'm not Hiruzen. I'm too old and tire for such things anymore. The last bit of plans I had died with Roots."

"Then why did you go to Naruto."

"You must see it right, Hiruzen?" Danzō asked causing Hiruzen to raise an eyebrow.

"See what?"

"The boy's IS the future Hokage. Excluding the concept that you die before he is of age that boy will become the best choice for Hokage through his spirit alone, but even still spirit won't stop other villages from testing the waters when he does step forward as your successor. As such he must be ready. I know you have absolute faith that the Academy will teach him what he needs and his Jonin sensei will do the rest, but your plans are crystal clear to me even with just one eye. You plan to have Kakashi becomes the boy sensei, but neither the Academy nor Hatake will be enough. So I am trying to push the boy in the right direction early, so he doesn't get himself killed due to your overly hands-off approach."

"Danzō I cannot stop you. You're retired so you're just a civilian as is Naruto until he graduates, but if you tell the boy about the Kyūbi or reveals his heritage to him then… well… Accidents happen."

"You're threats have become lukewarm in your old age. What happen to the old days were you would threatened to shove a man's balls down his own throat just for calling you a petty name, but I understand. I won't tell the boy about his status nor about his mother and father, but I will teach him about the Uzumaki Clan and he will come to you asking for more information about them and if you deny him such that just means you're more senile than Homura and Koharu make you out to be."

"Is that so, well I'll have to have a word with them about who's 'senile'."

"See that you do." Danzō said walking away without being dismissed. One thing he truly loved about being retired: he was obligated to listen to Hiruzen's order.

000TROK000

Naruto had been pretty quiet as of late. He still talked, but it was only to ask questions of Iruka-sensei. That was another thing. The boy was not only attending classes, but he stayed awake and listened intently as possible to the lectures, seeming to be attempting to write down everything that their chunin instructor was telling them.

It was an odd sight to the other children of the class. Some tried to distract him by insulting him or throwing things at them, but rather responding to them the blond would report the problem to Iruka immediately. After Iruka had to stop class for the five time he made it clear than bullying would result in suspension. The bullies then tried to use it to his advantage by saying Naruto was bullying them, but some of the kids that sat in the back namely: Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, or Shino would speak up for him before Iruka could reprimand the Uzumaki. This also resulted in the other kids getting suspended for their continued attempts at bullying.

Naruto was happy that people seemed to have his back. He'd have to thank them someway later.

Right now Naruto was walking out of the academy door. He was planning on going off to continue his chakra control training, but he spotted Sasuke exiting the academy and for was the boy wasn't trying to escape or elude a mob of fan girls. It'd been nearly a week since Danzō talked to him and while he'd yet to see the old man again he did remember the man's words about Sasuke.

With that in mind the boy ran up beside the Uchiha. "Hey Sasuke, where are you going?"

"None of your business."

"I take than as meaning nowhere. Do you want to hang out?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

"If you don't give me a reason why I'll just continue to follow you."

"I don't have time to hang around a loser like you. I need to train."

"You stupid bastard, you can hang out while training. It call training together."

"Why would I train with a loser like you?"

"Because first off, I'm awesome and if you train with me you get to say that you once upon a time you trained with the Hokage. Secondly, you can compare and contrast your growth with me to determine how far you've grown."

"I can't find a problem with that." Sasuke growled. He knew that boy was persistent and could actually keep up with him if he tried to run. "Fine, the moment you slow me down I'm leaving."

"Great, I know a great place to train!"

000TROK000

Naruto and Sasuke made it to the training ground that Naruto normally used, a place near the edge of the village's radius that had plenty of widen open areas, but also an abundance of trees. It was left untouched for the most part since it was a training ground designated only to those of the academy, but most academy students were too lazy to come this far out. Naruto suggested that they run all the way here which was an easy speed, stamina, and endurance boosting exercise.

"So what do you have in mind now?" Sasuke asked.

"Well I figured with could just talk while we train." Naruto said pulling out a kunai and charging a tree. Sasuke looked at the blond like he was crazy before watching with mind amazement as the boy charged up the tree. He ran clean up to the half point before he felt himself slipping so he quickly pushed his arm forward and engrave a slash mark into the bark and flipped off.

"What was that!?" Sasuke all but demanded.

"Tree walking," Naruto said like it was nothing. "I don't have good control of my chakra so I have to do this exercise."

"Teach me." Sasuke once more demanded.

"Really, but what could you gain from learning from a 'loser like me'." Naruto said his hands moving to do air quotes.

"Rgh, dobe!"

"Fine don't blow a gasket I'll tell you how to do it." Naruto said turning back to the tree. Get a running start and charge the tree when you get to the part where you go horizontal you push chakra to the tree through your feet and will for your foot to stick there. Too much chakra and you won't stick, but not enough and you'll fall off. It's best to use a kunai to mark where you last stopped so you can know your progress. Once you get the hang of running then you start walking."

"Thanks." Sasuke said thought the way he said it made Naruto believe it actually hurt the Uchiha to do so.

"No problem. We're comrades after all, Dattebayo!" With the Naruto charged back to the tree and ran up it determined to do better than the last time.

Sasuke was just standing in shock at being called a comrade. He grown up in the Uchiha Compound away from anyone except family. His brother had been the closest thing to a friend he had, yet the boy beside his had extended his an olive branch of comradery. He didn't know how to feel about that. He choose to shake the thought off and just get started on training.

He found a nice tall tree not too far away from Naruto and got to work. He charged the tree and made good progress for all of three steps. After that he immediately fell on his ass.

000TROK000

Training had gone good after that. They practiced the tree climbing exercise until the sun started to set. The academy let's out at 2 meaning they focused 6 hours of the training. It was silent save for Naruto prying for information like what he liked to do when not training or what his favorite food was. Being the Uchiha that he was he answered in only grunts. The universal way of recognizing that you heard someone say something, but you still weren't going to answer.

After than they did some physical exercises: pushups, sit-ups, squats, etc., but neither seemed to stop until they were sure they had one upped the other. Even if it was only by a single additional pushup. This lead to them doing an exercise with neither giving in until the other collapsed before moving to another exercise. They pushed past exhaustion on willpower alone. Determined not to lose to the other.

And life with on like this. The would wake up early, around four, in the morning and meet at their training ground to meditate, Sasuke's suggestion as he'd been thought that meditating and exercise helped with the growth of one chakra pools. Naruto honestly didn't need that at all, but meditation over the course of time made people calmer. He read in the book given to him by Danzō that being calm was one of the many keys that would eventually unlock the path to being a great shinobi.

Then they went to the Academy. The shinobi prepping school consisted on four 45 minute sessions of Iruka trying to cram history, math, language, and science into their heads then then an hour each of lecturing on what being a shinobi was about and how they should behave on the field, body conditioning, weapons training, taijutsu training, and ninjutsu/genjutsu training. The academy started at 6 and ended at 2. This was initially to give the clan children the maximum amount of time to train. There was addition courses and tutoring options for those that didn't have a clan to fall back on, so orphans and civilians weren't being completely left out.

After school Naruto and Sasuke would go back to the training ground they always used and start training on their chakra control. After than they did physical exercises until they collapse. They would always wake up the next day in their respective beds. Naruto chalked it up as the people that always followed him around as well as the ones that followed Sasuke.

They been training together for weeks before Sasuke finally decided to extend his help. The boy had been suffering horrible in the departments of shurikenjutsu and taijutsu, because no one took the time to show the bow how to through a kunai nor and he'd seen the taijutsu instructor attempting to outright sabotage Naruto when it came to using the academy issue taijutsu, which was already subpar, so Sasuke took it upon himself to train Naruto in this areas as best he could. They worked on it after they finished their chakra control exercises. Naruto caught on to everything pretty quickly and made improvements in leaps and bounds.

Soon enough they'd finished all the chakra control exercises. The most difficult part had been getting the final exercise down to a point that proved satisfactory. The actual exercise was to create string of chakra to manipulate items without actually touching thing. The exercise was 'completed' when the user could manipulate one hundred object simultaneously using extremely thin strings of chakra to do so. It been a hard task to do. When they first started Naruto was making literal ropes of chakra the size of his arm and Sasuke wasn't that far behind, but they pushed themselves beyond their limits. It paid off when it took them only a month and a half to complete the exercise.

And that is when Sasuke met them.

000TROK000

Naruto and Sasuke ran to the training grounds at speed that should have been impossible for a pair of 7 year old boys. They're eyes was focused squarely on the path ahead of them and they pushed to exceed the other, but even still they were clocking in at a little over or under even speeds with each other.

"I win!" Naruto roared as he crashed into the training ground with Sasuke crashing through milliseconds later. The Uchiha had a scowl on his face at having lost to the boy he'd come to acknowledge as the only one worthy of being his rival.

"I see you are having fun." Naruto and Sasuke looked up at the person that addressed them.

"Who are you?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Ji-san!" Naruto greeted the man running up to him, Sasuke walked up to the old man at a slower pace. Trying to get a read on the man's threat level.

"It is good to see that you've taken your training serious Naruto-san. You even got your classmate to train with you…" Danzō said turning to Sasuke. "Hello, Sasuke Uchiha."

"How do you know me!?"

"I know many things, but that is beyond the point. I've come because you've completed the chakra control scroll I gave you." Danzō said turning to Naruto. "Yeah it was super easy." Naruto said going to grab his backpack to get the scroll back to Danzō.

"Completing a scroll in six months that takes normal shinobi six years is an impressive act. I'm truly amazed at you dedication. So I think it's time that we streamlined your education."

"Naruto, can this guy be trusted?" Sasuke asked as Danzō went searching through his robe for something.

"Ji-san is as strong as the Hokage. Why would he need to lie to two children?" Naruto asked. Sasuke could not think of a reason and this was apparently the guys that given the scroll on chakra control, something he himself appreciated as he felt so much stronger just from having full control of his chakra reserves.

Danzō pulled out a two scrolls and tossed one each at the boys. "That scroll contains the secrets to how to preform four jutsu: the Shunshin, Kage Bunshin, Bunshin Daibakuha, and Chakra Kekkai. Master them all by the end of the day and I'll give you access to something far greater than anything else."

"What do you think, Naruto?" Sasuke asked putting his faith in the hands of the only person he'd come to acknowledge.

"I say we trust him. Worst cast we don't succeed, but we still have a scroll with four jutsu in it." Naruto suggested.

"Fine." Sasuke said still a bit weary, but they gave it a try and they succeeded, quite easily actually. Compared to the some of the later chakra exercises master a couple of basic jutsu was easy.

"Good, very good." Danzō said from where he sat under a tree. "You exceeded my expectations. Your abilities to learn is staggering." The old cripple applauded. "That is why you both must die." He sudden said darkly.

"W-what?" Naruto asked.

"You see dobe, I told you!" Sasuke growled turning to Naruto to glare at the blond, but all he glared at was Danzō's sandaled shoe as it slammed into Naruto's face sending his flying into a tree and then several more after that.

Danzō then turned his lone eye upon Sasuke.

He jumped at the Uchiha and went for a roundhouse kick.

Sasuke raised his arm to block. He succeeding in doing so, but felt a sharp pain jut through his arm as the appendage took the full blunt of the damage.

"You'll never be as strong as me boy! I won't allow it." Danzō said swing his can at Sasuke's head. It smashed into his face sending him fly into a tree. Sasuke staggered to his feet just as Danzō's foot slammed into his chest faster than he could keep up with.

Sasuke was helpless as Danzō charged at him with a flurry of punches and kicks. Some her barely dodged, but most hit there mark. 'His toying with me! If only I could see him!' Sasuke frustration was reaching his peek and just when he thought that he was going to lose it Danzō seemed to slow down to him. Actually the entire world seemed to slow down around him.

000TROK000

[Moments Earlier]

"What's going on Ji-san?" Naruto asked looking at Sasuke. The ravenette was totally frozen in time.

"I put Uchiha-san into a genjutsu. If it works he should come out with new ability that will make him exponentially stronger."

"What I don't get a new ability."

"Yes you do, but with yours I'll actually have to explain and allow you to do the rest. You have three abilities that I want to bring your attention too. Firstly, as a member of the Uzumaki Clan the will to live within your body exceed that of anyone else. You will live longer than most of the people around you and you possess the ability to heal at a rapid race. Most notably your brain cells can regenerate. Do you understand what this means?"

Naruto took on a thinking pose. "The only thing I can think of is the Kage Bunshin. The scroll you gave us warned that dispelling Bunshin could cause brain cell damage."

"I see that you are on the right track, so with the threat of brain damage gone, your massive chakra supply, and the other effect of the Kage Bunshin what could you do?"

"The other effect of the Kage Bunshin?" Naruto questioned under his breath. He held his chin as his face scrunched up in contemplation. "I could learn everything far faster than I could before."

"Right." It was also around this time than the genjutsu on Sasuke was broken.

"YOU BASTARD!" Sasuke screamed as he charged Danzō, but his arm was pinned behind his back before he could make it too far in his stride.

"I take it you've yet to realize that you were under a genjutsu to unlock your Sharingan."

"What?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. Danzō leaned his hand from behind Sasuke to reveal a mirror that they boy peered through. "How?" Sasuke asked on the verge of sobbing tears of joy. In his eyes blazed the Sharingan in its single tomoe form.

"The Sharingan opens in times of great distress, such as being in a battle, but this distress is caused by the mind not the actual body, so genjutsu, a form of jutsu that effects the mind directly, should have been enough to cause your eyes to awaken as long as you belief what is causing you stress is real. I desired to present this concept before you father and your grandfather before him, but they were stubborn men. Telling me to stay out of clan matters."

"Thank you… ji-san." Sasuke smiled which caused Naruto to smile as well. It was rare for the Uchiha to smile and seeing him do so made Naruto believe that there was hope for totally ripping away the Uchiha's emo tendencies.

"No problem." Danzō said with a slight smile. He turned back to Naruto. "Naruto!" The blond boy attention was instantly his. "The other ability I wish to tell you of besides your affinity for Kage Bunshin is the Uzumaki's ability in fuinjutsu."

"Fuinjutsu?" Naruto asked.

"The art of seal."

"What!? That sounds lame."

"That just shows your youth, child. Fuinjutsu can be used to do so many things with it you could seal away powerful adversaries, but also cause great explosions or manipulate the very fabric of space-time."

Naruto seemed a lot more interested as was Sasuke, how by now was released from Danzō's hold and sent to stand beside Naruto.

"The Yondaime was a shinobi that by all rights was only as strong as a jonin, but his reflexes and ability in fuinjutsu made him one of the strongest shinobi of his generation and the two before that as well."

Naruto and Sasuke were.

"The Uzumaki have the unexplainable ability to read fuin as if it was their native language. An inconceivable series of line and swirls to a normal man is a perfectly understandable letter before an Uzumaki. It's an amazing ability to say the least."

Naruto was beaming with excitement he wanted to get started on fuinjutsu immediately.

"The third ability is one that I will be unable to help you with. The Uzumaki Clan were masters of shape manipulation: The ability to mold chakra into whatever they choose. I believe its best you talk to Sarutobi on how to master that technique as he possesses a scroll containing the secret to mastering shape manipulation completely. I understand that you are close to him, so you'll have an easier job of getting him to help you in that then I ever would."

"Okay, so did you bring anything new for use to learn? Something on fuinjutsu!?"

"Actually…" Danzō reached into his robes causing Sasuke and Naruto's excitement to raise… and the immediately deflate when he brought out to slips of paper. "I want both of you to push your chakra into this piece of paper."

They took the paper from the old man as he leaned a piece to them. They gave the small squares of blank paper strange glances, but still the did as the man asked, since he had yet to steer them wrong.

They, as in Naruto, Sasuke, AND Danzō, became shocked beyond with what happened next. Naruto's paper immediately split into dozens of pieces; half of which became liquefied and the other gathering together and become a rock. Sasuke's paper crumpled up into a tightly compressed ball and erupted in a black fire that didn't seem to actual burn the Uchiha.

"What's happening!?" Sasuke shook his hand rapidly want the fire to stop and after a moment it did.

"What does this mean, ji-san?" Naruto asked.

"It means both of you are coming with me to see the Hokage!" Danzō grasped both boy's shoulders franticly and vanished in a Shunshin.

The ANBU reacted too late to stop him. "Don't panic. Hopefully he really did go to the Hokage." The lead ANBU, a purple-haired woman wearing a cat mask, said. She then dashed of in the direction of the Hokage's tower.

000TROK000

Hiruzen Sarutobi was in the midst of paper work when Danzō appeared in his office with a frantic look on his face and Naruto and Sasuke standing beside him with troubling looks on their faces.

"Jiji are we in trouble?" Naruto asked looking at the Sandaime. He didn't seem to know what was going on.

"I don't think so. Danzō what is the meaning of this!?" Hiruzen asked the cripple.

Danzō pulled out two new piece of paper from his robe and gave them to Sasuke and Naruto.

"Show him." Naruto and Sasuke took the square of paper again, a little more hesitantly this time, and pushed their chakra into the paper causing the exact same effects as before.

Sarutobi's eyes widened to their physically limit upon seeing this.

"Hokage-sama what's happening!?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, Jiji, Ji-san, tell us!" Naruto all but demanded.

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, that piece of paper Danzō-"

"Who?" the two boy's ask.

"Ji-san. The paper he gave you was meant to determine what affinity a shinobi has. For wind the paper is supposed to split into two half, for what the paper is supposed to become a tad bit wet, for earth the paper is to be reduced to dirt, for lightning the paper is supposed to crumple up a bit, and for fire the paper becomes lit ablaze. These effects are the normal reactions to the paper, but for those that have a stronger affinity then normal the effects become a bit more prominent, but I've only seen the papers with such intensity for two people."

"Who?" Naruto and Sasuke asked near simultaneously.

"The founders of Konoha, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. More specifically Madara possessed a special form of katon chakra, referred to as enton that caused his flames to be black. I'd never thought I'd see another enton user for as long as I live." Sarutobi said in awe.

Both of the boys seemed shock, but Danzō had already come of his shock and began to speak.

"I never thought I'd see another mokuton user." Danzō said causing Sarutobi to glare at him.

"Danzō, we do not know that. Hashirama's mokuton was a kekkei tōta. Only a member of the Senju clan could possible possess those abilities."

"Hiruzen are you truly going to play dumb. I think it's about time to reveal the secrets you've forced us all to keep."

"Danzō!" Sarutobi growled slowly; warningly.

"I will do it myself if you won't. I might be old, but there isn't a single ninja in this village that can challenge me sans you and we'd take each other down if we did fight. You would leave the village venerable because of your fear of Onoki and Ē."

Sarutobi looked livid. Naruto and Sasuke were looking back and forth between the men; wondering what was going on. Whatever it was they seemed hostile.

"Do you not understand the danger you're putting Naruto in!" Sarutobi growled kicking up from his desk chair.

"The boy was in danger the moment he was born. You've only made life harder on the boy by keeping this a secret as long as you have. Rather than have the outside world hate him, you have allowed this village to hate him. Both you and I know that an enemy within is a thousand times worst them a dozen enemies outside these walls!"

"Danzō I think you should stop talking." Sarutobi said darkly.

"No! I've pushed this too many times already and with Naruto's abilities coming to light before me, I cannot have you neglect these facts any longer. I always wanted to die in service to this village. It would do me proud knowing that I did so as well as ensure that this boy's full potential can be met." Sarutobi looked into Danzō's eyes. Danzō looked back with a clear resolve. The crippled old man was more serious than he had seen him in a long time. It reminded Sarutobi of a better time and it reminded him that Danzō had once been his friend. It also reminded him that is was him that had pulled away, not Danzō. He just wanted to push away from Danzō's talks of war and by doing that he unconsciously began to regard all Danzō's ideas as wrong, but in truth he was the wrong one.

Sarutobi sighed deeply. "I'll concede. Sasuke-kun if you would…"

"The Uchiha isn't leaving. I belief these boys would serve best on the same team. They're also the closest thing to friends either has. Naruto would only reveal his secrets to him later." Sarutobi glared at Danzō once more. The war hawk had a way of pushing for a yard when given a foot.

"Fine. Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun please be seated. Danzō you can also take a seat if you wish."

"I'm fine remaining standing." Danzō said making Sarutobi grimace almost unnoticeably. It was a cardinal rule amongst shinobi to never sit in a hostile territory. Danzō was old and had to lean on cane, so he didn't feel a searing pain as he stood. The man would only refuse seating if he was in a hostile territory.

"Naruto, Sasuke. I'm going to tell you several secrets that I thought would be best to keep secret, but this secrets will undoubtedly come to light someday. You both are incredible talented from what my ANBU report. I was conflicted in telling you what I am about to as it could cause you to turn your back on the village, but if I didn't tell you another could twist this knowledge to cause you to desire this village's destruction." Both Naruto and Sasuke faces looked completely serious. It made Sarutobi feel a little better about what he had to say. If they could put on serious fronts that showed a level of maturity. Sarutobi just hoped that they could take want he had to say maturely. "For the sack of not having to explain it later I will explain as much as I know. The Shodaime Hokage married a woman named Mito. Mito was special in that through a use of fuinjutsu she sealed the greatest bijuu, the Kyūbi no Kitsune into her body."

"Is that really possible!? Why would anyone do that to themselves?" Naruto asked in shock. Sealing a demon within your own body is crazy.

"Through fuinjutsu, many things are possible. Sealing a bijuu into yourself grants you control of the bijuu. Anyone that can master control of the beast within becomes exponentially stronger. The only handicap is that during childbirth, female containers of bijuu are at risk of the seal breaking and freeing the bijuu. If a bijuu is resealed from its seal, it'll cause the death of the container. Despite this, Mito bore the Shodaime several children. One such child was Kazama. A man that would leave Konohagakure no Sato for his ancestral homeland where he would become the leader of the village there. He would later marry and have many children with one such child being Arashi. Arashi would also marry and his wife gave birth to several children; the most talented was a girl named Kushina. Around that time Mito was dying and needed to seal the Kyūbi into a young member of her clan, so she sent a message to her homeland and in return they sent her the best they had to off, Kushina. Kushina would have the Kyūbi sealed into her and she would go on to become a powerful shinobi in service to Konohagakure. She even fell in love with a man that would later become the Yondaime Hokage. They had only a single child together. Even though the boy didn't have Kushina's red hair or heir violet eyes he held a spirit so uncannily similar to hers, so she gave him her last name. His first name came from the Yondaime's favorite novel, which was written by the man they named the boy's godfather. That boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki." Sarutobi said causing Naruto's eyes to widen. Sasuke's eyes widened as well to a lesser degree. Danzō only rolled his eyes at Hiruzen's theatrics. The old Hokage had avoided using the name Uzumaki or anything linking to it, until the very in just for the shock value.

"No way." Sasuke said. Naruto was still speechless. Sarutobi couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Yes, but that isn't the end of the story. God knows I wish it was. On the night you were born, Naruto, a mask man with only one visible eye appeared and attacked. He killed my wife, Biwako, and exploited the fact that Kushina's seal was weakened after given birth to free the Kyūbi and took control of the beast. He had the Kyūbi attack the village while battling the Yondaime. He lost and retreated while the Yondaime-"

"What is his name?" Naruto asked just starting to come out of his daze.

"Minato. Minato Namikaze was your father's name. Minato went to stop the Kyūbi, but he was at an impasse. He was strong enough to stand toe to toe against the Kyūbi, but even if he did kill it the beast would reform in nine years' time, stronger than before. So he made the split decision to seal the bijuu into another human, but a bijuu of Kurama's caliber could only be sealed into someone with strong blood and a stronger will. There was only a handful of people than could become the host of the Kyūbi and every moment of his indecisiveness was another that the Kyūbi used to destroy the village, so he sealed he bijuu into the person that he trusted the most."

"Me." Naruto said unconsciously grasping his belly.

"Yes. The sealing process killed Minato though. With no other choice I was forced back into off." Sarutobi spoke grimly.

"The reason the villagers hate me is because of these."

"Yes, your condition was passed through the grapevine too fast for me to get around to stop before it was too late. I failed you in that respect, but coming out of retirement into a mess as big as recovering from an attack distracted me. I made a law forbidding anyone talking about your being the container of the Kyūbi with the penalty of death to whoever disobeyed. I thought this might help you live a happier childhood."

"This is… I can't believe it." Naruto said sounding hollow before his face scrunched up into rage. "I'm going to kill the man that did this." Naruto growled as his eyes began to become red. "OWW!" He yelled as Danzō hit him with his cane causing the demonic chakra he was generating to dissipate. "What's you problem ji-teme!"

"You have already chosen a path in life, child. Do not allow vengeance to blind you."

"The person that did this tried to destroy the village! My mother and father died, because of him."

"You mother died because of him, your father died because he wanted to protect this village and, more importantly, you. You'll walk on the Yondaime's grave by abandoning your desire to protect this village, a desire you inherited from him."

"I'm not going to let him get away with this!"

"I never said you had to, but do not focus on it. If this man was foolish enough to attack the Yondaime he'll do it again and when he does this we'll stop him. Not just I or your, but this entire village will rally against the man that took its Yondaime. You just have to make sure you're ready to lead the charge and a leader seeking vengeance is not one that many will follow as the smart ones will know that road only leads to self-destruction. Seek to protect what your father preserved."

Danzō speech moved Naruto and Sarutobi as well, but it also affected Sasuke. It made him question was rather he was right in dedicating his life to kill Itachi.

"Danzō is right Naruto." Sarutobi said drawing back the attention of the three other occupants of the room. "Vengeance is a fruitless ambition. If you succeed then you'll discover you were so focused on vengeance that you have burnt every other possible bridge; leaving you bitter and lonely as you try to find a road that isn't covered in rubble that was caused because of you." The metaphors were hard to catch on to, but the boy's seemed to get it well enough. Those words caused Sasuke to further question his ambition. "It's hard. I want this man dead as well, but I can't focus on him. I can hate him, but I have a village to run and a life to live that can't revolve around one man."

"I understand jiji." Naruto said sadly.

"I guess that also applies to me, huh?" Sasuke asked in a depressed tone.

"Yes, it does Sasuke-kun, but it is time that I shed some light of that situation as well."

Sasuke's attention rose as Sarutobi told him that. "What is there left to tell? Itachi-"

"Did not kill your Clan." Danzō finished the Uchiha's statement for him.

"What."

Sarutobi spoke up. "The Uchiha Clan planned to overthrow the village. We were trying to figure out a means to stop this and resolved to the conclusion that the top brass of the Uchiha Clan: the clan head, the clan elders, and a few other conspirators would be assassinated. A problem as high risk as this was too dangerous of anything short of that. This mission was originally meant for a group of shinobi, but Itachi pleaded that it be made a solo mission on his part. He felt that it was his problem to resolve. He went in to complete the mission, but on the night that his mission was meant to happen a masked man, the same masked man we believe released the Kyūbi, attack the Uchiha Clan at a large. Itachi completed his mission and went to stop the man, but Itachi could not. He told Itachi that your life was in his hands. If he didn't join him, then you would die. You know the rest. Itachi put you into his genjutsu and then deflected from the village, but not without managing to sneak a clone to me to inform me of what's happening. He serves as our inside man. Itachi knows the location of this man and the organization of rogue shinobi that he controls. He sends us information under the nose of the masked man's, who we now to be an Uchiha named Tobi." Sasuke's was in a daze as he focused on all of the data.

"So Itachi didn't go crazy?" Sasuke asked attentively.

"No, Itachi-kun is safe. He's just between a rock and a hard place as we speak. This man has proven twice to be capable of getting into this village no matter how secure we make it. The only thing between him and you is the ANBU guards that are on you twenty-four seven."

"We have to rescue him!"

"There's nothing to rescue…" Danzō said drawing Sasuke's attention. "… Itachi is fine. He always was. He's doing this for you, Sasuke. The only thing you should be worried about is being able to stop this masked criminal should he ever come your way. Though that in no way means you should dedicate yourself only to getting stronger. Friends can also help protect you too." Danzō hinted. Sasuke nodded resolutely.

"Who are you and what have you done with the Danzō that believes bonds are a show of weakness." Sarutobi half-joked. Danzō laughed bitterly.

"He's gone. Replaced with a man miserable from having burnt away any bonds he had with anyone." Danzō said.

"Ji-san… I'm your friend." Naruto said placing his hand over the one that Danzō used to grip his cane.

"I guess I could be your friend too." Sasuke said trying to sound as if it didn't matter to him.

"We were once friends… Danzō… It's never too late to try again."

"This brings a warmth to a place I thought I had frozen into nothingness, but beside the point. Hiruzen the boys require your assistance." Danzō attempted to change the substance least someone see Danzō's face or voice show some actual emotion.

000TROK000

After that day things had improved, but nothing truly eventful happened. Naruto became even more determined to become Hokage, pushing himself harder in his training. Sasuke became determined to become strong enough to defend himself the never time Tobi chose to act and adopted the new ambition to bring prestige back to the Uchiha name rather than seek revenge. The first place he was the academy; attempting to be more aware and friendly to those him, this of course made his fangirls go gaga making him recoil a bit, deciding to only be friendly to those that he actually wouldn't mind being friends with. Danzō and Sarutobi began the bumpy road to rebuilding a friendship.

As far as training went Naruto began work on his nature affinities, which did in-fact include mokuton, and mastering the Rasengan; a technique created by his father and Sarutobi's answer to how he's to master shape manipulation. All of this was being overseen by the ANBU tutor assigned to him by the Hokage, a man codenamed Tenzo. Though that was what he clones worked on. The actual Naruto had his time split between physical training and studying fuinjutsu.

Sasuke also began his training to master his nature affinity though at a much more sedated pace since he did not have the assistance of Kage Bunshin, but what he did have was the Sharingan, which he used to copy even genjutsu and kenjutsu technique Neko, the tutor assigned to him, threw at him, but even though he managed to copy it she still made him do run through every kata of even technique until the pain was excruciating and after that he was still obligated to join Naruto for physical conditioning least his rival catches him slipping.

Currently the boys were forced into taking a break from training due to Hiruzen and Danzō having news for them. They entered the Hokage's office with irritation evident on their faces.

Hiruzen was sitting calmly at his desk, having looked up from paperwork upon their entrance. Danzō was sitting in one of the two chairs that were positioned in front of the Hokage's desk.

It was the third person in the room that drew most of their attention. It was a young girl with milky white skin, sparkling emerald eyes, and a mop of pink hair. She blushed when she noticed the eyes of the boys upon her.

"Who's she?" Sasuke drawled sounding as if he didn't really care; as if only obligation to know was pushing him to ask.

"I could have sworn I've seen you before?" Naruto said taking on his thinking face, which consisted of his eyes lowering near the point of closing, his nose scrunching up, and his lip puffing out a tad bit, and completed with his left hand resting on his chin.

"I-I'm in the same class as you." The girl squeaked quietly.

"Oh." Naruto responded; straightening up his face with nothing left to investigate.

"This is Sakura-chan." Hiruzen said trying to lighten the mood of the room. "She is to be the third member of your team."

"Team?" Naruto and Sasuke asked together.

"Yes, Team." Danzō said. "At the pace you're going putting you with any other genin upon graduation would hinder your growth rather than further it, so it was an executive decision to make you into a team, but most villages really on team of 3 shinobi with 1 leader, therefore we had to recruit a third member that would begin training with you."

"It was a rule implement several decades back that each new team of genin must have one member proficient in first-aid or better yet iryō ninjutsu. We approached the matter of who would be your third member with that in mind. Sakura proved the most efficient in treating wounds and is a rare anomaly in that she possessed perfect chakra control; making her the best choice to train in iryō ninjutsu." Hiruzen continued.

Sasuke gave Sakura an analytical gaze; his Sharingan blazing to life. She was unnerved as he came in really close to her looking her up and down. She blushed at the close proximity. She daydreamed what she would do if he ever got this close to her, but now that he was she couldn't help, but fill like a piece of meat before a butcher. "Her chakra reserves are piss poor and she has the body of a malnourished civilian." She was dismayed as he gave her analysis. "I don't approve." Sasuke said robotically. The young pinked haired girl looked ready to cry after his breakdown.

"And what do you think of her Naruto?" Danzō questions. Sakura looked to Naruto hoping that he would kinder in his assertion of her.

"She… sucks." Naruto said causing the girl's hope to deflate into depression. "I'm not lying when I say that I'd fear for her safety if we were every thrown into the field…" Naruto said. Sakura seemed ready to cry, while Sasuke looked indifferent to the matter. Danzō and Sarutobi were frowning by now. They knew Sasuke would see things as they were, but they hoped Naruto would have seen more, one of them was about to speak up, but Naruto continued talking before they could get the chance. "…But we won't be deployed to the field for a while sans a war breaks out." Naruto looked Sakura directly in the eye. "I don't know what weird diet you've been trying that would make your body like that, but as long as you promise to eat plenty of food and show up to training without fail, then I have no problem trusting Jiji and ji-san's faith in you." Sakura face lit up in a smile; thankful that she was being given a chance. "We train without stop. We have serious ambitions that can't be hindered in anyway. If you prove a liability even after a couple months then I'll have to stand with Sasuke on you." Naruto warned.

"Don't worry Naruto-san, I won't disappoint!" Sakura cheered.

"Do you really think this is a good idea? That Hyūga girl would be the easiest to integrate into our training schedule." Sasuke said.

"True, but I know that Hanabi-chan will become an amazing shinobi, but Sakura has potential that would be lost or even crushed if we just told her she wasn't good enough and threw her to the side. As future Hokage I got to make sure that all of my underlings reach their full potential!" Naruto declared with a bright smile. Sakura was in awe of his words while Sasuke just scoffed at what the Uzumaki said, though if you looked closely enough you'd see that he had the hints of a smile upon his face.

'That is why you'll become the greatest kage.' Danzō and Hiruzen unknowingly thought along the same lines.

Danzō knew his could rest easy. He no longer had to worry about who was holding up the great tree of Konohagakure no Sato. The old tree has sprouted new roots to support it.

000TROK000

**Yeah that does it for this chapter. This is probably the longest chapter I've written in a loooong time. This idea came to me as I thought of ways to create a stronger version of Team 7 early in the series. I original was thinking time travel, but after several disappointing versions I choose to just leave that alone for a while and just focus on writing other things. This actually came to me in the midst of me attempting a go at a Highschool DxD X Naruto story again. Rather that proves to be fruitful or not is still up in the air. **

**I wanted to give more screen time to Danzō, but when I write I pretty much just let my thoughts and my hands take me to the finish line, without trying to control them. Do to this I, at times, end up with stories totally different from my plans.**

**This is also the reason for the semi-rush in Naruto and latter Sasuke excepting the realities of who they are and what they must do. I know real people are more complex than that, but if you're accusing Naruto characters of being real… well… no comment. Joking aside I do this for a bit of release and maybe a little praise, not to make serious thought provoking stories. I sorry if you were looking for that here.**

**As far as the pairing goes I was thinking of a harem for Naruto and a ménage à trois for Sasuke.**

**Sasuke X Karin X Kurotsuchi – all but final unless someone rallies against it. I may add Yugao. Tell me how you'd feel about that.**

**And**

**Naruto X Sakura X Konan X Samui X Karui X Hanabi X Kurenai X Anko X Ino X Tsunade X Shizune X Mei X Tenten X Haku X Ino X ?(suggestions) – this is not the final list. That will most likely be smaller, but the girls listed are those that, off the top, I wouldn't mind pairing with Naruto. The only ones that are final are Naruto X Sakura X Hanabi X Tsunade.**

**As to why Hinata isn't on this list. Well I dropped a hint earlier. If you caught it good. If you didn't well :-P**

**To those that feel the progression through time in this chapter is rushed. It is, but I didn't see a reason to drag this on when I could save all use the pain and go straight to the actual main story. Rather than drag on forever about this or that**

**Thanks to Beta: Tsukuyomi11 **

**Words from him:** [Lazy I wish the best for you on this fanfic. Also readers get ready for my first Naruto fanfic, I promise you this will be an epic tale of epic epicness, especially since Lazy will be helping me with this.]

**I'm considering doing a story that will focus off answering questions that you guys ask in my stories. It can be a question to me or any given character in any of my story. I will answer questions in groups of ten, so every time I get ten questions I'll answer all ten and then wait for another ten to build up.**

**Character stats**

1 – Civilian (mediocre)

2 – Genin (proficient)

3 – Chunin (advanced)

4 – Jonin (elite/genius)

5 – Kage (master)

**Naruto Uzumaki**

Ninjutsu - 5

Taijutsu - 4

Genjutsu – 3

Auxiliary Jutsu (Fuinjutsu) - 5 

Intelligence - 3

Strength - 5

Speed - 4

Stamina (Chakra included) - 5

Hand seals - 3

Total – 37

**Sasuke Uchiha:**

Ninjutsu - 4

Taijutsu - 3

Genjutsu – 5

Auxiliary Jutsu (Kenjutsu) - 5 

Intelligence - 3

Strength - 3

Speed - 5

Stamina – 4

Hand seals - 5

Total – 37

**Sakura Haruno:**

Ninjutsu - 3

Taijutsu - 5

Genjutsu – 4

Auxiliary Jutsu (Iryō Ninjutsu) - 5

Intelligence - 5

Strength - 5

Speed - 3

Stamina – 4

Hand seals - 3

Total – 37


End file.
